Emory University professor sounds alarm on lack of action to fight COVID-19

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    Atlanta, GA (WGCL) — Dr. Carlos Del Rio of Emory University said more pain and suffering are possible if the nation doesn’t come to grips with the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 ravaging the nation.

“Unfortunately, we have a leadership vacuum,” Dr. Del Rio said Thursday. “There’s no one at a high level talking about this, saying what to do. It’s allowing the pandemic to progress without anyone taking charge.”

The Trump Administration has come under increasing scrutiny since losing the 2020 election. Since that date, President Donald Trump hasn’t talked about the COVID-19 crisis, even as cities and states like El Paso, Texas and South Dakota are being devastated by large outbreaks. Still, Dr. Del Rio said it’s not just on the federal government to lead the fight against the pandemic.

“The leadership needs to happen at all levels,” Del Rio said. “They should speak with one voice. It’s time to have a mask mandate. A mask is a public health intervention. We need to avoid crowded places.”

Del Rio said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should be given a larger role in dealing with the pandemic. He recommended daily press updates explaining new developments and the science that leads to changes to guidelines and what scientists are continuing to learn. The CDC has largely been relegated to a secondary role for most of 2020 after initially sounding the alarm about how serious the spread of the virus would be in the United States during a press briefing earlier this year.

One area Del Rio talked extensively about was where the majority of cases come from and how there are simple ways to slow down or stop the spread of the virus. According to Del Rio, most infections are linked to people being at restaurants, bars, religious events, hotels, and other similar areas. He said there are still full restaurants, bars open, and to him, “limiting the number of people at places will be critical in controlling the spread of the virus. It’s pretty clear, a lot of people are getting infected when they are in restaurants and bars. If the place is too small and not well ventilated, then we need to close it.”

Along those lines, much of the pushback against mask mandates, temporary closures of facilities and other measures to curtail the virus has been the impact on the economy. Politicians have suggested they will never again order a mandatory closure because of the damage it would do to the economy. Del Rio disagreed with this line of thinking.

“This is a false dichotomy,” Del Rio said. “It’s not the economy vs. public health. If we slow the spread of the virus, we will be able to open the economy. In fact, public health will be the key to keeping the economy open.”

Georgia is starting to surge in cases, Del Rio said, and he fully expects the situation in Georgia to deteriorate after the holidays if “we don’t do the right thing.”

As for a vaccine, Del Rio said a possible vaccine from Pfizer has a big hurdle for the rollout, how to keep it at the correct temperature over long distances and how to store the vaccine. He said the vaccines will require two doses, so at the beginning of the year, if approved, the vaccine would likely go to 15 million people like first responders, seniors in assisted living facilities, and others in the top tier of need. Vaccine availability likely won’t be available to the general public until July or August 2021, Del Rio said.

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